Yesterday we had the first light accumulation of snow. This is the Ladies’ first winter. They bunched up at the pop-door and refused to go outside. Princess Phoebe’s way was blocked, which quite annoyed her. Phoebe does her morning toilette in the far right corner of the outside pen and she was too polite to barge her way through. I shooed the chickens aside, and then Phoebe got a good look at the white ground. She decided not to go out, either. But, I don’t want her to use the coop as her latrine, and so I pushed her little butt out the door.
Not so bad, she said, did her business and explored the frozen grounds.
We had more snow last night. Along with rain. And sleet. There’s a hard white crust covering everything. The chickens needed to be coaxed outside with cantaloupe seeds. Twinkydink, who has seen 8 seasons of snow, led the way.
Phoebe was already outside. She’s decided that she rather likes snow.
It’s even good to eat.
You can see that she is well-adapted for playing on the cold white stuff. I watched this fall as she shed out her summer coat and grew in a layer of thick fur. I watched as she plumped up. You can’t take a house rabbit and plop them outside mid-winter. But, a bunny that lives out with the hens acclimates with the seasons. Phoebe says it’s playtime. Bring on the snow!
She does have a beautiful winter coat and looks like she will handle anything Mother Nature sends her!
Phoebe is a beautiful bunny. I am looking forward to see if she likes to build snow tunnels too.
Me, too.
Terry, how old Phoebe? It is the first winter it?
She is 1 + years, but last winter she was an indoor rabbit.
PHOEBE IS GORGEOUS!!!!
These reports are reassuring. Surely our winter cannot be too bad for our hens, bunnies, and goats, if yours are managing so nicely!
You Californians worry about weather that we’d be wearing t-shirts in! :)
Yep, we’re a-Cali-mated.
Phoebe definitely looks like she’s ready for winter!
I LOVE Phoebe’s winter coat. I guess she just needed a little coaxing to get started! Have fun Phoebe!
How is Buffy these days? I have not seen her on camera for quite some time.
Holding on. She spends her days in the corner. But sometimes she walks over to eat Phoebe’s rabbit pellets!
Phoebe is beautiful in any season. Great pics of her.
I just finished making snow and ice pics with my pre-k class. We use crushed eggshells for the snow. Had to do something spectacular for missing 2 days of school in Fort Worth, TX.
I am watching the snow fall on the web cam, and its magical!
I was wondering where all the girls had gone, and they are all inside!
My chickens never stay inside during the worst weather, and I can’t understand why?
As long as they can stay dry and out of the wind they don’t mind being out. But, if your hens are getting soaked instead of going inside, then there’s something about the coop that they don’t like. Is it too dark to see in there? Too crowded with all of them? Is there food and water? Is the air quality good? Perhaps a predator spooked them in there once during the daytime. So many things could be going on in their little chicken brains.
Thank you, Terry. It might be that its just to small. My coop is a “Crooked Coop” design, and so bigger on top, and nest boxes, but smaller on the bottom. I came up with the design, thinking of the function of laying eggs, but not “hanging out.” They would rather still outside getting wet and blown(we live right on the water in the Puget Sound)then go into their cozy home..:( So short of buying a bigger coop….I’ll keep working on some ideas!
ps.. I loved watching the snow fall yesterday on the cam!!!
just wanted to add…Its seems like your chickens all get along pretty well.
I have a mixed(different ages) group, and in their groups they hang out, but not all together.
They don’t really like all hanging out in the coop together..
Because I have two flocks, I’ve been able to swap around the hens for personalities and temperaments, and that has kept things peaceful. Remember when Edwina was in with Buffy? Lots of pecking. In with the Gems, and she is a model citizen. But, also, the Big Barn has so much room that even hens who don’t like each other don’t feel pressured to do any bullying. Floor space is essential for a calm flock.
Thanks for this post. Phoebe’s pet places seem to be off camera so I don’t see her that much. But she has the camera poses down doesn’t she? Great rabbit.
My hens have not come out of their coop for almost a week now and the snow we have barely covers the ground. I have not tried coaxing them out but may have to.
She looks like a Christmas card…sweet
She is so beautiful. Lucky lady to have such a beautiful bunny.
I’d read that rabbits are built for cold weather, but it’s hot weather that they can’t tolerate. Looking forward to catching Pheobe on the camera! :-)
Yes, rabbits die from heatstroke. That’s why we put a shade tarp up over part of the run, and why I put frozen water bottles next to her in the summer. In the wild they can burrow in the cool earth, which helps to keep them healthy.
Such a beautiful, plump little bunny girl!!
It would be interesting to see how much and how long super senior hens like Twinkydink, and Edwina remember things such as a rare food they are given or weather conditions. And that they know immediately what to do, while much young hens just stand around afraid or not knowing how to react. Have Edwina or Twinkydink ever shown such knowledge on a rare food or event Terry that they haven’t experinced in years yet know exactly how to handle it ?
We had our first snowfall a few weeks ago. When I opened the coop door the big girls (3 year olds) took one look and stopped dead in their tracks. The new hens (about 9 months old now) pushed them out of the way and went tearing outside, stepped in the snow for a second looking surprised, and then just continued on and did their “normal.” Not to be outdone, the big girls soon followed. So fun to watch! Later that day I went out to check on them and I saw a couple of “winged chicken” angel impressions in the deeper snow. It looked like a couple of them ventured out into the deeper snow and fluttered their wings, leaving these beautiful winged impressions. Wish I’d taken a picture!
What is it about little bunny feet? Cutest things ever. Like donkey hooves…
Phoebe is so pretty! :)